Opposition Leaders React to Throne Speech

Following the delivery of the speech from the throne by King Charles, the leaders of the Conservatives, New Democrats, and Bloc Québécois criticized aspects of the Liberal government’s agenda for the upcoming parliamentary session.

“We were looking for that promise and that hope in the speech today. We did see a lot of the right slogans and political talking points, but no clear plans to get it done,” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said following the throne speech on May 27.

King Charles’s speech, which was the third time in Canadian history that a monarch has delivered the speech, outlined the priorities of the new Liberal government under Prime Minister Mark Carney. The speech touched on the Liberals’ plans to remove interprovincial trade barriers, provide a tax cut for lowest tax bracket, tighten border security and gun control, and build more affordable housing.

Poilievre commended King Charles for coming to Canada to reinforce the country’s “ancient, great British liberties, a parliamentary system that goes back 800 years, a system that has served Canada well.” But he said the speech itself, which was written by the Liberal government, did not contain “real plans.”

The Conservative leader said that while the speech mentioned building projects of national importance, it did not lay out specifics around oil and gas infrastructure and pipelines. Poilievre said the speech also did not mention the Impact Assessment Act, which the Conservatives say should be removed because it makes it more difficult to approve energy projects. The Liberals say they will keep the act, but avoid redundancies on environmental checks between the provinces and the federal government and streamline projects. 

Poilievre also said the speech mentioned stopping crime, but did not say whether the Liberals would change bail laws, or whether they would do away with “safe supply” drugs policies.

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“We’re here to turn the government’s talking points into real plans,” Poilievre said. “Let’s replace the talking points with real plans to get it done. That is what Conservatives pledged to do.”

NDP Interim Leader Don Davies said the party was pleased to see the speech touch on supporting Canadian companies and creating jobs, creating a “diversified trade relationship” with countries besides the United States, and building more housing.

But Davies said the speech was made up of policies the Liberal Party had previously announced over the last few months, as well as “broad platitudes.” Davies criticized the speech for not being “worker-centred” or mentioning health care or support programs for workers in the face of U.S. tariffs.

Davies also said he was concerned that the speech suggested Ottawa would be cutting public services in an attempt to reduce government spending. “We’ll be working hard in the House to bring these messages to the floor of the House of Commons, and advocating for the kinds of services that we need, the protections Canadian workers want and deserve,” he said.

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said the throne speech was the “most important initiative by a federal government towards centralization that I have seen or heard of.”

Blanchet said Carney, who was previously the vice-chairman of Brookfield Asset Management, seemed to see “Quebec and provinces are merely regional offices,” and said this is “not the way it works in this place.”

Blanchet also questioned why the speech did not focus on U.S. President Donald Trump’s posturing toward Canada, despite the Liberals’ election campaign message being focused around his tariffs and questioning of Canada’s sovereignty. “It just vanished, disappeared,” he said.

Despite these criticisms, Blanchet said he will be meeting with Carney next week to try and “find common grounds in order to work together.”